KING ABIJAH 2 CHRONICLES 13:1-22

v 13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them.
After Rehoboam's death, Jeroboam resurfaced to settle the old score with his son Abijah. Although Abijah feared God there was one terrific handicap that he had- and that he was a longwinded bigmouth. Instead of engaging the enemy, he decided to give another one of his speeches. V4 Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim which is in the mountains of Ephraim and said “ Hear me Jeroboam and all Israel....

In his prewar speech, he reminded Jeroboam of all the evil he had done in Israel and all his personal rebellious history, his unfaithfullness towards God,introducing false religions and on and on.But while Abijah was delivering his magnificent speech, Jeroboam wasted no time. He set  an ambush. In alarm the priests sounded the war trumpet.

Just what did King Abijah hope to accomplish by bringing up Jeroboams past behaviour? That  he  would go down on his knees and say “I apologise?” Instead of engaging his mind on the immediate  situation, he brought up the Jeroboam's past. If there is one thing that people don't want to hear,it is their own own sordid history being mentioned,more so, publicized. The wounds are just made worse. It pushed Jeroboam over the edge.

There is only one solution in the given circumstances. When in the presence of  Jeroboams-don't dig into their past. It only heightens their resolve to resist. Bringing up anybody's past is never a good idea to solve problems.And never make the mistake of  extending the olive branch to Jeroboams. Their long line of broken relationships and endless quarells should just tell you something. Pray and  flee from the situation.
 The Midnight Owl